An air bag assembly may be incorporated into a vehicle to protect an occupant during a crash or collision. During a front end collision, a vehicle will be subjected to significant deceleration forces. If these deceleration forces are great enough, they may cause an unrestrained occupant to be pitched forward. An air bag assembly is adapted to restrain a vehicle occupant who is being pitched forward during a vehicle collision to prevent him from striking a structural part of the vehicle, such as the vehicle dashboard and/or windshield.
Typically, an air bag assembly includes: (i) a container; (ii) a folded air bag disposed in the container; and (iii) an inflator, or gas generator, disposed at least partially within the container. On the driver side of the vehicle, the air bag assembly will commonly be incorporated into the steering wheel to protect the driver of the vehicle. On the passenger side of the vehicle, the air bag assembly will commonly be incorporated into the dashboard. In either case, the air bag assembly is located proximate the passenger compartment of the vehicle, and in front of the predicted location of an occupant prior to a vehicle collision.
At the onset of a collision, the inflator is actuated to discharge a flow of relatively high pressure gas. The gas flow rapidly (i) forces the air bag through a portion of the container and into the passenger compartment, and (ii) flows into the air bag to inflate it in a predetermined inflation pattern. This predetermined inflation pattern will usually be such that an occupant's torso will initially contact the air bag as he is pitched forward during a vehicle collision. Thereafter, the occupant's head will contact the air bag. This specific sequence of contacts is important because the "initial-contact" portion of an occupant's body will be required to absorb a substantial amount of the restraining force exerted by the inflated air bag.
In designing an air bag assembly, and/or when installing such an assembly into a vehicle, two concerns must be addressed. First, the installed air bag assembly must be adapted so that the air bag, when inflated, will be disposed between potentially harmful structural parts of the vehicle and the predicted location of the occupant prior to a collision. Second, the air bag assembly must be adapted so the air bag has an inflation pattern such that it will initially contact an occupant's torso while he is being pitched forward in a vehicle collision.
As indicated above, a passenger side air bag assembly will commonly be incorporated into the dashboard on the passenger side of a vehicle. In this manner, when the air bag is inflated, it will be disposed between potentially harmful structural parts of the vehicle, i.e. the dashboard and the windshield, and the predicted location of the occupant prior to the collision. This mounting arrangement has been found to be the most convenient and acceptable in view of the automobile industry's preferred manufacturing techniques for passenger compartments.
On the passenger side of vehicles, the profile of the dashboard will vary from model to model. These differences in dashboard designs and other factors have resulted in passenger-side air bag assemblies being coupled to dashboards in a number of ways. One coupling arrangement, in which a passenger-side air bag assembly is coupled to an upper, or top, portion of the dashboard, is of particular interest. Also of particular interest is a coupling arrangement in which the air bag assembly is coupled to a middle, or rearward, portion of the dashboard.
When an air bag assembly is mounted to the upper portion of a dashboard, design factors will usually dictate that the gas flow must exit the container in an upward direction toward the windshield of the vehicle. This upward flow pattern will usually result in the gas flow being directed towards a location above the predicted location of an occupant's torso. More specifically, the gas flow will usually be directed towards, or above, the predicted location of an occupant's head. Consequently, the occupant's head will probably contact the air bag before the occupant's torso in a vehicle collision. Such an air bag inflation pattern is undesirable because the occupant's head will be of a lesser mass and a lighter weight than the occupant's torso and therefore will be less suitable for absorbing a substantial amount of the restraining force initially exerted by the inflated air bag. Thus, if a passenger-side air bag assembly is mounted to the upper portion of a dashboard, it will probably be necessary to control the inflation pattern of the air bag so that the occupant's head will not contact the air bag before the occupant's torso.
Additionally, in certain configurations of air bag assemblies which are adapted to be mounted to the middle portion of a dashboard, the gas flow will not necessarily exit the container in a direction towards the predicted location of a vehicle occupant's torso. Instead, in some configurations, the gas flow tends to be directed towards the occupant's head. This phenomenon has been found to exist, at least to a limited degree, even when the inflator and container appear to be aimed towards the predicted location of a vehicle occupant's torso. Consequently, if a passenger-side air bag assembly is mounted to the middle portion of a dashboard, it will probably be necessary to control the inflation pattern of the air bag so that the occupant's head will not contact the air bag before the occupant's torso.
Applicants therefore believe a need exists for a passenger-side air bag assembly which (i) may be mounted to either the upper portion of the dashboard or the middle portion of the dashboard, and (ii) may incorporate a single compartment air bag having an inflation pattern such that gas flow exiting the container will be redirected towards the predicted location of an occupant's torso.